Education & Social
What you can do with Music Education
Teaching music in schools: band, choir, orchestra and general music.
- Careers
- 4
- Early career
- $48,000
- Mid-career
- $60,000
- Growing fast
- 0 of 4
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 4 careers a Music Education degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
The New York Fed does not report Music Education on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for Miscellaneous Education, the broader group it places this major in.
60% of people with this degree go on to a graduate degree, so the higher-paying careers below usually mean more school after the bachelor's.
0 of 4 careers this degree leads to are projected to grow faster than average from 2024 to 2034.
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4 careers this degree leads to
Music Director / Composer
$73,710Lead ensembles or write original music for film, games, worship, and the stage.
- Middle half of workers
- $53,110 to $104,090
- Growth
- Slower than average
- Openings a year
- 4,300
Work-life65Remote22- Conducting
- Composition
- Music Theory
- Arranging
Teacher (Secondary Education)
$72,040Teach academic, social, and life skills to students at the secondary school level.
- Middle half of workers
- $59,980 to $92,570
- Growth
- Declining
- Openings a year
- 66,200
Work-life48Remote10Satisfaction70- Instruction
- Classroom Management
- Curriculum Design
- Communication
Elementary School Teacher
$63,970Teach the academic and social foundations children build on, owning a classroom across every core subject.
- Middle half of workers
- $57,710 to $81,450
- Growth
- Declining
- Openings a year
- 91,000
Work-life53Remote52- Lesson Planning
- Learning Strategies
- Classroom Management
- Assessment
Musician / Singer
VariesPerform music for live audiences and recordings, in bands, orchestras, choirs, studios and solo.
- Growth
- Slower than average
- Openings a year
- 19,400
- Musical Technique
- Sight Reading
- Practice Discipline
- Stage Presence
Related majors
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Where these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.